Advent Children: XMen Evolution Style
by Gijinka Renamon
Summary: Simply put, this is a parody of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children with XMen: Evo characters.
1. Prologue: The Beginning of the End

Advent Children: X-Men Evolution Style

NOTE: This story involves characters from the (in my opinion) sadly short-lived cartoon X-Men Evolution in the roles of characters from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Oh, and before I forget, a lot of the names of the characters (the ones from the movie and the ones doing the parody) are mixed together….well…you'll see what I mean soon enough.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING YOU SEE HERE!

EDITED 6/10/07: I've changed a few specific details in order for them to match with the comics, though I'm taking some creative liberties with them.

* * *

_**Prologue: Beginning of the End**_

Three sets of feet pounded the ground, sending up a cloud of dust in their wake, as a trio of blue-furred beings dashed across the dusty plains, occasionally teleporting further ahead with a _Bamph_ sound.

Finally, they dashed up a bunch of rocks and gazed out into a valley, with tall buildings that were carpeted with ivy and other plant life.

The once-proud city of Baygar was now nothing more than a giant garden.

* * *

_**498 Years Ago…**_

A lone helicopter hovered over the North Crater, before vanishing into the fog that surrounded it.

Voices cut out through the silence.

"Take a look at this!"

"Not very pretty, is it?"

"Who cares? Just get the damn thing."

"Woah!"

"Fred! Hurry!"

"What was that?!"

Gun shots rang out followed almost immediately by pained groaning.

"Tabitha!"

"G-Go…"

"Damnit!"

A few minutes later, the helicopter could be seen fleeing the crater.

* * *

_Terrigan Mist… that's what we call the river of life that gives life to the planet and everything in it._

_The company Wynecorp found a way to use the Terrigan Mist as energy, and because of that, we were able to live comfortably._

_But in doing so, we were destroying the planet by taking its life away. A lot of people thought this was bad, and tried to stop it._

_But Wynecorp fought anyone who got in their way with a special group of people called GUARD, who were infused with Terrigan energy and the cells from the "Calamity from the Skies"…Ensabanur, an alien force that fell from the sky ages ago, and tried to destroy the planet. _

_The greatest GUARD of them all was named Erikroth, AKA Magneto. But when he found out the truth about what he really was, he started to hate Wynecorp. Eventually, he started to hate everything else too._

_Wynecorp and the people against them, Magneto who wanted the make everything go away, and the people who tried to stop him. There were a lot of battles, and a lot of sadness. Someone I knew went back to the Terrigan Mist._

_And then the chosen day came… when the planet fought back. It used the Terrigan Mist as a weapon and all the battles, all the sadness, all the grief, was washed away. _

_It's been two years since they told me this._

In the small town of Brink, about a mile from Baygar, people were milling about, living out their daily lives, seemingly unaware of the pain-stricken children skulking in alleyways and along the streets.

A dark-skinned boy with dyed blond hair looked towards another boy, a tall, gawky fellow.

"Are you ready?"

His friend nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Then together they ran off, splashing though puddles as they went.

_But it looks like the planet was angrier than we originally thought._

Somewhere else, a girl named Rahne sat beside a bed, looking worried. Lying in the bed was a green-skinned boy known as Dorian, a boy who had the mutant power to neutralize or dampen the powers of other mutants around him.

_They call it the Legacy Virus._

Dorian rolled over, the wet cloth on his head sliding off. The boy looked up at Rahne and gave her a weak smile.

_Please, please don't take Dorian away._

Downstairs, in the bar called Seventh Haven, a woman with long red hair was busy washing cups when the phone rang. Drying her hands on a rag, she jogged up the steps and picked up the receiver.

"Strife Deliveries, you name it, we deliver." She paused to listen. "Yes, this is Jean…Who's calling?" Another pause. "Yeah, I remember…"

* * *

Outside the city of Baygar, there is a cliff where a huge rusted sword stands buried in the ground. Not that far away, a brown-haired man with ruby quartz-tinted glasses sat on his motorcycle, listening on the message on his cell phone. 

"_**You have a call from Fred in Curin; he says he has a job for you." **_Jean's voice floated out of the receiver. _**"Scott…how have you been?"**_

"_**You have no new messages."**_

Scott put his cell phone away and was about to start his motorcycle up, when a stinging pain struck his arm. Instinctively, he clutched the limb, which was covered by a black piece of cloth hanging from his shoulder.

"Nng…damn it…"

As soon as the pain receded, he started up the motor and drove off down the dry, cracked earth; completely unaware of what would happen next…

* * *

_Gijinka Renamon Presents: Final Fantasy VII Advent Children- X-Men Evolution Style_

* * *


	2. Ch 1: Enter the Mysterious Trio

Chapter 1: Enter the Mysterious Trio

The rusted sword stuck out of the dry earth, a testament to all that had happened. But then, a booted foot knocked it out of the ground where it was standing. The foot belonged to a sour-looking young man with silvery hair.

Behind him were two men on motorcycles. One was a muscular beast-like guy; the other was a man in crimson armor.

"Is that where our brother lives?" The bestial man asked.

"Yep." The first man answered simply.

"You think he'll be happy to see us?"

"I doubt it."

The last man must have sensed the other man's feelings, because he told him softly, "Don't cry, Cain."

"But Father's with him." The beast-man said hopefully.

"Who knows?"

Now it was the last guy's turn to feel sad. "Don't cry Victor." Cain said softly.

The first man, Pietro, raised a hand to silence them. "He's coming."

They all looked down to see Scott driving through the wasteland. The other two nodded and drove off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott was driving along, minding his own business, when a bunch of monsters that resembled huge red lizards suddnely appeared out of nowhere and attacked him. 

(AN: These creatures appeared in an episode of X-Men Evolution, so anyone who's very familiar with the show might recognize them.)

"What the--?!"

Scott stopped the motorcycle and spun around to face his attackers. He drew out a buster sword from a special holding place on the motorcycle, but one of the lizard creatures was already upon him…

ZAP!

A beam of red light from Scott's visor shot out and seared a wound into the creature's side, forcing it to fall back. This was Scott's special power, which earned him the nickname "Cyclops".

Scott drew out his blade and short forward, cutting down all the creatures in his patch when suddenly, Cain drove up to him, and asked sharply, "Where's Father?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Cain just slashed at him with a blade-like weapon while Victor just fired a gun in his direction.

"We know you hid him somewhere." He said. Victor fired again, but Scott blocked the bullets with his sword.

Then the other man broke away, leaving Scott to whirl around and blasedt one of the beasts with his heat beams. Then the two men returned, driving around him in circles and attacking repeatedly.

* * *

At about the same time, Pietro was busy talking on his cell phone. "Don't tell me you're leading me on," he said, "Because I have reason to believe you're holding Father there." He paused for a moment before speaking. 

"Know what? I don't want to talk to you anymore. Put the president on."

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott was leading a whole horde of the lizard-like creatures, and having a hard time holding all of them off. And his motorcycle-riding opponents weren't helping his situation either. 

The combatants swerved about wildly, trying to strike each other down.

Just then, Scott felt a stabbing pain his arm. _Damn it! Not now! _Scott gritted his teeth, barely avoiding an attack from Cain, who managed to knock his sword away.

Suddenly, and without warning, Victor drove up and fired at his head, almost knocking off his protective visor. Then he and Cain fell back, and the lizard creatures swarmed around Scott.

_Damn! There's too many of them!_

With a terrible roar, all the creatures charged at him…

Then the creatures suddenly dissolved into a huge cloud of blood red mist that coalesced into Pietro's outstretched hand.

Scott halted his vehicle and looked up, surprised. Pietro just smirked and drove off.

"What was that all about?" Scott muttered.

Seeing no answer coming to him, Scott started the engine and drove off in the direction of Curin.

_**To be continued…**_


	3. Ch 2: A Proposition

EDITED 6/8/07: Made more changes

* * *

Chapter 3: A Proposition

The small village of Curin was a rural sort of place where people came to relax and get away from their troubles. Unfortunately for Scott, he wasn't one of them.

As he drove, he listened to a message from one of his colleagues, Peter Wallace.

"_**Hey Scott! I just found this huge patch of oil! The surveying is done, so I'll be coming home to see Rahne soon. You let her know, alright?"**_

After that there was another message from Jean, but this one sounded urgent.

"_**Fred called again…and he said to hurry. He sounded kinda weird when he said it. Scott…please be careful…"**_

The young man drove up in front of a blocky, mechanical-looking building with a set of wooden steps leading up to a porch.

Tentatively, he made his way up the steps and to the door, which he kicked open. His cautiousness was rewarded when a short, stopped, green-skinned figure attacked him with a spear. This was Todd "Toad" Tolensky, a member of WyneCorp's special corps, "The Acolytes".

Scott let Todd run past him out the door, and slammed it shut before he could get back in.

"…Okay, you're good." Came the humbled response from behind the door.

The young man then turned to face another figure in the room, a hulking, bulky man named Fred Dukes, also called "The Blob" for obvious reasons.

With speed surprising for someone of his size, Fred rushed at Scott, who put his sword to the giant man's neck.

"Good…good…You fight like the GUARD you once claimed to be."

Surprised, Scott spun around to see a figure in a wheelchair with a blanket around him, obscuring the man's face. "You haven't lost your touch," the man continued, and Scott blinked.

"Jason Wyneguard? Man do I feel sorry for you."

The President of Wynecorp looked towards him. "On the day of the explosion…"

"Just what do you want from me?" Scott demanded, but Jason kept talking, lost in the memory.

"…I managed to get…"

"Just who were those guys who attacked me?"

"…before the building collapsed…"

"If you're not gonna answer my questions, then I'm leaving!" Scott snapped. At with that, he turned towards the door.

"Wait." Jason raised a hand, revealing a dirty mark, the tell-tale sign of the Legacy Virus. "We need your help."

Scott looked over his shoulder at him. "I'm not interested."

"Oh, I know my company is the reason our planet is in a sorry state," Jason told him, "But I sincerely want to put things right."

"Hello? I'm still out here!" Todd called. Everyone ignored him.

"First off," Jason continued, "we have investigated the North Crater after Magneto tried to destroy the world."

"Yep, at the North Crater!" Todd piped up from behind the door.

"And do you know what we found…? Absolutely nothing. You can relax, not everything went as planned, as we were attacked by the same trio who accosted you, Pietro and his gang."

"Pietro?" Scott let the word

"Apparently, he doesn't want us to finish what we started. What could he be thinking?"

"So, what does that have to do with me?" Scott asked.

"Well, you're our pal, aren't ya?" Todd asked. Scott kicked the door in response.

"HEY! No need to get uppity!"

"Listen, Scott, Pietro's group is young and violent, a dangerous combination. Therefore, we decided we needed some muscle."

"Well too bad, I'm a delivery boy now." Scott snapped.

"Listen Scott, you're all I have. You were an ex-GUARD, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was, but only in my head." Scott answered dryly. He opened the door, then looked back. "Anyway, what's all this stuff about 'Father'?"

Jason seemed surprised. "Why, did Pieto say something to you? That's no surprise. There are plenty of children out there who miss their parents…like those orphans who live with you. Don't you want to put the smiles back on their faces? All we want is to rebuild the world, Scott."

The young man seemed hesitant. "But I…"

"Come on! We can rebuild Wynecorp!"

These words seemed to snap Scott out of his stupor, and he walked out, saying, "Like I said before…I'm not interested."

As he left, Jason and Fred gave Todd dirty looks. The frog-like man just smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

_To be continued…_


	4. Ch 3: Battle at the Church

Edited 6/10/07

* * *

Chapter 3: Battle in the Church

Meanwhile, Jean and Rahne were visiting the old church in Baygar where Scott was staying. Jean pushed the old wooden doors open, and Rahne ran down the aisle and to the part of the church that held a small garden clustered with gold and white flowers.

As Rahne examined the flowers, Jean noticed a discarded bandage lying on top of a box.

"Does Scott live here?" The young girl asked.

"I guess he does." Jean answered, but she was somewhat distracted.

"What's that?" Rahne asked, having noticed the bandages too. She picked them up and looked at Jean. "Just like Dorian…is Scott sick?"

"Why didn't he say anything?" Jean mused.

"Did he leave 'cause he's sick?"

"No…I think he just wants to fight this on his own…no…I don't think he will…."

Rahne looked at her. "Jean…?"

Then the woman smiled at her, saying, "It's nothing. Come on, Rahne."

"But Scott's not back yet!" Rahne protested.

"I know Rahne, I miss him too. But if he does come back…"

"Then we'll all go home!" The girl finished.

"But first…" Jean smiled, "He'll get a stern talking to."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lodge near Curin, Fred and Todd laid sprawled out on the floor in pain, as Pietro approached Jason, who didn't seem at all perturbed by the commotion. 

"If there's one thing I can't stand," Pietro said, "it's liars."

"I'm very sorry. This time you'll get the truth: the object you seek fell from the helicopter when we were running from you. I'm afraid we were careless."

"Is that so?"

"I swear it."

"Then swear on these," Peitro smirked, throwing the blood-stained ID cards of Tabitha and St. John on the ground in front of Jason, who now seemed a bit perturbed.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"It's simple. We need Father's power because the Gathering is coming up very soon."

"Gathering…"

"All my brothers and sisters with Father's cells will gather, and together we'll take our glorious revenge on the planet! We've already sent out the invitations, but we can't seem to locate the guest of honor." Pietro told him.

"What do you mean by invitations?"

"The Legacy Virus, of course, but you know all about that. Father's memort lives on in the Terrigan Mist and makes it happen. He does so much for us, and we don't know where to find him! But what can we do? We're just remnants of his legacy. Until we can find him and receive his cells, we can't be whole again. The Legacy Virus and a lmemory aren't enough for a true reunion, after all."

"What do you mean by that?"

Pietro looked surprised. "But sir, surely you've noticed…"

He got on his knees and lowered his head. As he slowly looked up, his facial features seemed to shift and alter until it was the spitting of Erikroth AKA Magneto…

* * *

_  
Thunk._

Somewhere else, Scott replaced the sword that Pietro had kicked down earlier.

"I said I'd live both our lives…heh…that was an easy promise to make."

His memories wandered back to a man named Alex, his close friend who had been a member of GUARD, but had given it all up in order to protect Scott.

"_**So you wanna be in GUARD, huh? Hang in there."**_

"…_**You okay?"**_

"_**So Scott, what are you gonna do when you get to Baygar?"**_

"_**Hey Scott… we're friends, right?"**_

"_**SCOTT!"**_

"Ugh…" the young man fell to his knees, holding his arm in pain.

* * *

Back at the church, Jean and Rahne were sitting around, waiting, when Cain suddenly burst in. Jean moved the younger girl behind her as the man approached. 

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here. Wanna play?" There was a pause. "…Guess not. Where's Father?"

As he moved towards them, the two back up into the flowerbed. Cain spotted the flowers and grimaced. "Yuk…" Shaking his head, he growled, "I won't ask again. Where's Father?"

"There's no one by that name here." Jean said firmly.

Cain smirked. "Alright, a playmate. Let's play."

"Rahne, hide somewhere and don't come out until it's safe, understand?" She told the younger girl, who nodded before running for safety behind a pillar. Jean then pulled on a pair of black leather gloves and got into a battle stance. "Ready when you are."

"This is gonna be fun…"

Then she rushed at him, but Cain blocked her attack with one massive arm. But she kept striking, using telekinesis to chuck some benches at him, and forced the bigger man backwards.

"Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, _bitch_!" Cain roared angrily.

(AN: (Sweatdrops) Yeaah, I'll admit I couldn't resist putting that line in.)

Jean responded with a kick to the face, and Cain struck her, sending the young woman sliding back into the flowerbed. Jean brushed the blood off her lip and then rushed towards her opponent, who dodged her attack by jumping into the air and landing several feet away.

The young woman then gave him another kick to the face and knocked him into the wall before pressing the attack, jumping off the walls and running towards Cain, flip-kicking him, then striking again…Cain however blocked her attack again, pushed her back a few feet before kicking her.

He then struck with a powerful punch, which Jean barely dodged. She was able to jump off his head, but he grabbed her by the ankle and whiled her about like a bola before chucking her at the back wall. Jean managed to land on it, kicking up flower petals in her wake.

She sprang forward, knocking Cain to the ground and leapt into the air, only to pile drive her enemy into some benches.

"Jean!" Rahne emerged from her safe spot behind the pillar and rushed towards the older woman…

Suddenly, a strange sound filled the air, a cheerful, victorious sort of noise. Cain emerged from the pile of benches, holding a cell phone, which was going off. He put it to his ear and began speaking through the reciever, momentarily distracted.

"Hello? No, she's not here. What? I am **not** crying! Fine, fine, I'll bring the girl." He put away his phone and turned to face the other two. "Now, where were we?"

He threw a bench at Jean, who stopped it with her telekinesis, and threw it aside...all of a sudden, Cain was behind her, and struck…

Rahne watched, horrified, as Jean started to fall…but then Cain was suddenly there, and hit her through a pillar, where she fell into the flower bed.

Smirking evilly, Cain strode through the flowers and lifted Jean by the front of her top, ready to deliver the final blow…when something hit him in the back of the head.

He turned to see Rahne, who, out of desperation, had opened the box, which was filled with M'krann Crystals, and had chucked one at his head. With a nasty grin, he dropped Jean and made his way over to where the young girl was standing…

(AN: Yeah, I couldn't decide what to use for Materia...hope this fits.)

Jean weakly pushed herself up, watching as the evil man stepped closer to Rahne…

"Rahne! Run!"

* * *

Somewhere else, Dorian gasped out in pain. He had only gone out to get some fresh air, but now it seemed his illness was paining him worse than ever. 

Just then he heard footsteps. Looking up, Dorian saw a young girl of Native American descent walking towards him, with a silver-furred wolf plushie dangling from her hand by one paw.

"You have it too, right? Come follow me, they're gonna fix us right up."

She grabbed him by the arm and led him over to where a big truck was parked. Children milled around it, talking happily.

Victor stood at the front of the truck, impatiently drumming his fingers on the hood.

* * *

When Scott returned to the church, the first thing he was aware of was that the place was a wreck. Then he saw the figure lying motionless among the flowers, and his heart almost stopped. 

Breathing heavily, he ran to Jean's side and lifted her up. "Jean…Jean!"

Slowly, the young woman's eyes flickered open. "You're…late…" she said weakly.

"Who did this?"

"I…dunno…he didn't say…and I didn't get a chance to read his mind…" Suddenly, she sat up, and yelped, "Rahne!" Then she fell back into Scott's arms.

"Damnit!" Scott swore loudly.

But as he was about to pick her up, the Legacy Virus struck again, this time, it was worse than before, sending a blinding pain up and down his entire body. Scott almost swore he saw his cells (or were they Ensabanur's cells?) dripping from his hand and onto the flowers, leaving blackish stains.

_Ugh…What's… happening to me? It hurts…make the pain stop…please!_

With a groan, he collapsed on the flower bed next to Jean, his consciousness slipping away rapidly…

* * *

Behind a ruby-tinted visor, Scott's eyes snapped open. From what he could tell, he was in one of the bedrooms above Seventh Haven. Jean was lying next to him, sleeping peacefully. 

As he sat up, he realized they weren't alone. Fred and Todd were standing in front of them, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"You're kinda heavy, ya know?" Fred said, breaking the ice.

"Hey…didn't you have some kids living with you?" Todd piped up.

"'Cause they're not here." Fred added.

"Aren't you worried?"

"I…" Scott looked down at the sleeping Jean.

Fred sighed. "You're a handful, you know that?" And with that, he and his partner strode out the door.

_**To be continued…**_


	5. Ch 4: Corruption of the Mind and Soul

Note: I'm adding some scenes/lines to the story, to spice things up. Enjoy!

EDITED 6/10/07

* * *

Chapter 4: Corruption of the Mind and Soul 

The Lost City, where the beings commonly known as the Old Ones once dwelled, was where Pietro, Cain and Victor had gathered the children.

Kids of all shapes and sizes, ranging from about four to twelve years old stood in front of a large pool, talking to each other nervously.

Meanwhile, the trio themselves were examining the box of M'Krann Crystals taken from the church.

"Look at what our brother was hiding…" Pietro said. "Powers from the Terrigan Mist…with their power, we will be unbeatable…" And with that, hee picked up a shining green stone and let its powers be abosrbed into his body.

* * *

At about the same time, Scott was driving towards the Lost City. As he did, his mind wandered back…

* * *

_When Jean awoke, she found Scott standing in front of a window._

"_Fred and Todd are out looking, if you're wondering."_

_Jean sat up on the bed and turned to face him. "You…have the Legacy Virus don't you…? So you're going to give up and die, is that it?"_

"_There's no cure…"_

"_Yeah, but that's not stopping Dorian, is it? Don't run away! We can fight it together!"_

_Silence greeted her statement, and the woman looked down sadly._

"_I guess that only works for __**real**__ families…"_

"_Jean…" Scott's voice was pained. "I'm not fit to help anybody. Not my friends, or my family…heck, I don't have much of a family anymore._

_The woman rolled her eyes. "Dilly dally, shilly shally." She said. Scott turned and stared at her. "Dilly dally, shilly shally." She repeated._

"_I think she means you have to move on." _

_Startled, Scott turned to look up at the doorway, where Fred was standing._

"_Did you find them?" Jean asked hopefully._

_The corpulent man just shook his head, saying, "No, but we did get a witness saying Pietro's gang took them."_

"_Where?" Scott asked._

"_They're at their base…the Lost City."_

* * *

And now he was zooming down the empty dirt road with skeletal, luminous trees on either side, which gave the whole area and eerie look to it. 

Scott narrowed his eyes. Pietro and his cronies had to be stopped at all costs.

* * *

Speaking of whom, Pietro was talking to the crowd of children. Victor and Cain stood behind him, keeping an eye on Rahne, who was standing there nervously. 

"Father has given me a special gift." He told them. "It is the power to fight against a planet that torments its people. She gave this gift to all her children, yes that's right; you and I are part of the same family!" His smile grew bigger as he continued, "We were when we inherited our Father's legacy from the Terrigan Mist!"

Then his smiled faded, only to be replaced by a look of disgust. "But…the planet doesn't approve of this. It's trying to hold us back, and that's why it's causing us pain and filling us with doubt! But now I will heal you…and we shall go to Father together!"

He began glowing with an eerie light as he said this. "We will join together and take out revenge on the planet!" Pietro walked into to water, which was instantly turned an inky black by his power. "Now…do as I do." He reached into the water with cupped hands and took a drink.

Then he smiled at the children, saying, "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

One by one, the children walked into the water—the younger ones were somewhat nervous, seeing as most of them didn't know how to swim—but they went in anyway.

Rahne, watching the scene in silent horror, saw her friend Dorian among the crowd, lifting his hand to his face to drink the contaminated liquid.

"Dorian!" She screamed, trying to get his attention.

The boy looked up at her, but his eyes seemed colder now, not friendly and full of light like they usually were.

Suddenly, Victor looked up with a start.

"What is it?" Cain asked.

"…Someone's coming…."

Pietro turned towards them, smiling cruelly. "Well, well…it looks as if our brother has finally decided to join us."

Rahne quickly realized who he was talking about, and she was filled with hope.

"Scott's coming!" She exclaimed. "And when he gets here, he's gonna kick your butts!"

The silver-haired man walked up to her and bent down so they were eye-to-eye.

"I don't think so little girl. We have some…surprises planned for your friend that will surely take care of him…"

He smiled evilly as he said this.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott was driving along the path, when he suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a blank white void. 

"…Huh…? What is this place? I feel like…I've been here before…"

Then he felt a familiar presence standing behind him, a warm, friendly, and somewhat familiar aura.

"Ya'll came…even though you feel like you're gonna break…that's a good sign…" A gloved hand rested on his arm, and Scott recognized the voice as belonging to his long-dead friend Marie "Rouge" Gainsborough. "So…why did y'all come?"

"I think…I want to be forgiven, more than anything…" He answered.

"By who, I wonder?"

He turned to look behind him, but found himself back on his bike, driving along the lonely road.

_What the heck was that? A vision…? _He wondered.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when gunshots rang out through the still air.

Cain, Victor and Pietro appeared suddenly, with Pietro waving his hand and scores of children suddenly popped up out of nowhere. Scott swerved to avoid them, and ended up falling off his bike in the process.

He tried to get up, but Pietro put a blade to his neck, saying, "I'm so glad you could make it."

"I'm only here for the kids." Scott answered.

Pietro ignored him, and motioned towards Scott, telling the amassed children, "See this man right here? He's our big brother…but in our flock, he's what you'd call a black sheep."

"Scott!" Rahne yelled.

Pierto spun to face her, but that was a big mistake on his part. Scott grabbed his sword and rushed him, but Peitro did a back flip to escape.

In the resulting chaos, Rahne managed to get away. Dorian was the only person to see her go…but for some reason, he just let her run away.

Meanwhile, Victor fired at Scott while Cain rushed towards him, and the two began striking and dodging the other's blows.

Cain managed to send his opponent back a few feet, but the younger man recovered quickly and charged, however, Cain grabbed him and threw him forward.

Scott then had to face Victor, who usied to guns to fire at him.

Scott separated his blade into two and fought on fiercely. Suddenly, Cain punched the ground, sending up a wave of earth towards Scott. Victor jumped into the air to fire at Scott a few times. Then the young man swung one of his blades downwards, creating and arc of blue energy that hit collided with the all of earth, causing a pillar of earth and blue energy to rise into the air.

Then Cain punched him and sent him flying before Victor bounced off Cain and fired repeatedly.

The three combatants leapt about in a deadly dance of death, neither side seeming victorious.

Scott managed to get into the air, but Victor was after him, firing away and shooting one of Scott's blades out of his hands, where it became lodged in a tree.

Scott himself landed on a branch of a nearby tree, and jumped for his sword, grabbing the handle and pulling himself up on the blade.

_Damn…these guys are good!_

Below, Cain struck the trunk of the tree Scott was on, causing it to topple over. At the same time, Victor landed on the same tree and started firing again. Scott pulled out his sword and started blocking the bullets. Cain jumped into the air and punched the falling tree. The part the combatants were on shattered, but the fighters themselves were in the air.

Scott briefly landed on another tree, where he reconnected his swords and pushed himself off towards Pietro, who waited for him eagerly.

Their blades clashed repeatedly, and then Pietro raised his weapon in anticipation for the final blow…

Suddenly, Pietro had to jump back as a swirling mass of scarlet appeared out of nowhere, forcing the combatants to the ground. Scott hit the dirt, hard, and his cell phone fell out and ended up falling into a nearby pool.

The crimson mass swirled around the young man, and a hand holding a gun emerged from behind it, firing at Pietro. Cain and Victor tried to attack, but the mass, now carrying Scott's body somehow, leapt about, firing as well as lashing out with a set of razor-sharp claws.

Finally, the crimson blur rose through the tree branches and vanished out of sight.

Pietro gritted his teeth angrily.

"So, now what do we do?" Victor asked.

The silver-haired man swung to face them. "Get the children and head to Brink!" He told them. "This ends now…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a location far from where the battle had taken place, Scott had recovered and was crouching beside yet another pool. Standing nearby was the enigmatic Logan Valentine, who was watching him warily. 

"I knew I couldn't help anyone…" Scott said apathetically. He looked up at his companion. "Do you know anything about this?"

"I've come here often, so I've been keeping an eye on Pietro and his little gang." Logan answered. He put a hand on Scott's arm, and the younger man cringed, feeling the effects of the virus rushing through his body.

"The Legacy Virus is a symptom of alien matter that infests the body. The body tries to eliminate it but over compensates."

Logan removed his hand and started walking around Scott as he continued. "In side our bodies is a current, like the Terrigan Mist, that fights out any malevolent intruders."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Intruders?"

The other man just looked at him. "The Magento gene, Ensababur's memetic legacy."

"How do you know all this?' Scott asked.

Logan turned away. "John and Tabitha…they were brought here half-dead, and must have been brutally tortured. I did what I could to help them, but only time will tell."

"Tortured?"

The man shrugged. "They had it coming, since they found Ensabanur's head."

Scott's eyes widened behind his visor, not that Logan could see, anyway. "So when Pietro says he's looking for Father…"

"Heaven's dark harbinger, the calamity, Ensabanur." Logan finished. "If they wanted to, they could recreate Magneto."

"So what is Pietro then?" Scott asked.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think I want to know." Logan replied.

Suddenly there was rustling in some nearby bushes, and Scott jumped to his feet, sword at the ready…then Rahne ran out, looking distressed.

"Rahne!"

The girl ran up to him, burying her face in his shirt. "Scott! Dorian and Jean…!"

"Shh…it's all right. Jean's okay."

"I wanna talk to her!" Rahne shouted.

Scott reached for his cell phone, and then cursed silently when he realized he lost it. Rahne looked at Logan. "Do you…?"

The man just shook his head.

"You don't have a phone?!" She said incredulously.

"Hey Logan," Scott interrupted, "Will you bring Rahne to Jean? I'm gonna go see if the people at Wynecorp have a few answers.

"I can't do that." Logan said solemnly.

"But…"

Rahne backed away. "Forget it, Scott! You never pay any attention to us!"

The young man crouched down to face the girl. "Rahne…please give me some time. There's a battle to be fought, but it's not that simple. Do you understand?"

"No I don't!" The girl yelled back.

"Scott…are you sure this is about fighting?" Logan asked him.

The young man said nothing as a memory came to the front of his mind…

* * *

"_Where are they?" He asked._

"_They're at their base in the Lost City." Todd answered._

_He nodded, "Go, I'll talk to Jason." He turned to leave, but Jean stopped him._

"_Stop running! I know, even if you find the kids you might not be able to help them, and maybe something bad will happen that can't be undone. But don't think about that now! You think you've got it so damn hard. Well, you hate being all alone, so let other people in. Sure you don't answer your phone, but I don't see you throwing it out, either."_

"_You go then. The base is all yours." Fred told him. Then he and his partner walked out._

"_So which is it?" Jean asked. "A memory? Or us?"_

* * *

As he thought, he felt like he was in the white void again. 

"_I…let you die…"_

_There was a sigh. "Dilly, dally, shilly shally. Isn't it time ya start forgivin'?"_

"Do you think our sins were ever forgiven?" Scott asked, somewhat awkwardly.

Logan shrugged. "I've never tried." He answered.

Scott blinked. "You never tried…?" Shaking his head, he turned towards Rahne. "Come on, let's go."

The girl smiled. "Alright."

As she ran towards him, Scott looked back to Logan. "Well, I'm gonna try, and I'll phone in the verdict."

Then the two walked off, hand in hand.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott's phone still floated down into the pool's depths, a few messages still playing. 

"**Hello Scott, this is Remy speakin'. How's yer work goin'? Ah saw yer flyer…how do ya stay in business anyways? Well, ya certainly never change. If it's okay with ya, I'd like to help out. Well, ah'll cal, back later, I guess."**

"**Heeey! What's up! It's me, Kitty!"**

Their messages and several others seemed to blend together and become hard to understand, but then a single message made itself clear.

"**Ah' neva blamed ya…not even once. Ya came fer me…and that's all that matters."**

Then the cell phone hit the pool's bottom where its batteries finally gave out.

_**To be continued…**_


End file.
